On Tuesday, June 25th, 2019, the Chinese Embassy stated that it has asked Canada to suspend all meat exports after reports that Chinese inspectors have allegedly found residue of a restricted feed additive in a batch of Canadian pork products.
This action comes amid diplomatic disputes between Canada and China regarding the arrest of a senior Huawei executive and follows China’s decisions to stop imports of Canadian canola and the suspension of imports from three Canadian pork producers.
In response, Larry Miller, Member of Parliament for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, issued the following statement:
“I am sick and tired of the Chinese Government creating bogus reports and making false claims about the safety of Canadian food products. Canadian farmers produce some of the highest quality meat and agricultural products in the entire world and to suggest otherwise is clearly disingenuous.
The only ones that seem to be fooled by these actions are the Prime Minister and his cabinet all of whom continue to turn a blind eye to these outrageous assertions and allow China to walk all over Canadian producers.
Enough is enough. It is crystal clear that this has nothing to do with food safety and has everything to do with petty diplomatic feuds. We need our Government to understand that with every day that goes by with these products unable to be exported, Canadian producers are suffering.
The Prime Minister is on his way to Japan for a G20 leaders’ summit. I am calling on him to use this summit as an opportunity to stand up to China on behalf of producers across the country.”